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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Happy Anniversary

A year ago today, I decided—mostly on a whim—to become a blogger. Two weeks prior, my wise friend Rachel had suggested I start a blog. And I thought she was crazy. Me? A blogger? Oh, the idea had crossed my mind before, but only in the "wow, I wish I was the type of person who blogged" kind of way. Because I didn't think I was that type of person. I had a hard time keeping up with my real life—I couldn't imagine trying to write about my life at the same time, all the while making it interesting or at least mildly entertaining for my readers. And really, would anybody actually want to read about my life? I wasn't convinced.

But my friend's suggestion had planted a little seed in my mind. Over the ensuing days, I began working on an art project, and at some point during that process I suddenly had this overwhelming desire to share what I was doing. I didn't just want to share the finished product but also the journey it took to get there. And that's when I realized that I didn't have to write about my life, I could have an art blog instead!

I was excited. I started signing up for a blog that same day but was stumped on what name to use. Eventually I settled on "Growing Is Beautiful"—a phrase taken from the art project that had inspired me to become a blogger. It seemed perfect. After all, this was an art blog, wasn't it?

You are probably laughing by this point. I am, too, actually. Because I really and truly believed I was starting on art blog. I was going to post poems, photos, crochet projects, paintings, gardening adventures, and all that jazz. Because I was an artist. And this was my art blog.

And it's true—I am an artist. But this is not an art blog.

In fact, it never really was. Oh, I have certainly posted plenty of poems, photos, crochet projects, paintings, gardening adventures, and all that jazz. But even in my very first blog post, I did that thing I was so sure I couldn't do. I wrote about life. Not in the way that many people do, chronicling the events and day-to-day happenings of their lives. But I wrote about the experience of life, little snippets of insight found amidst the hard business of growing and learning.

Believe it or not, it took months for me to look back and realize what had been true from the first day: This was my life. This was my story. This was me.

I didn't think I had anything to say. I didn't think I could write in a way that would be meaningful to anyone. I didn't think it would change my life.

But I was wrong.

And I have never been so glad to be wrong.

Thank you for walking this road with me. Thank you for reading, for commenting, for "liking" my posts on Facebook. Thank you for sharing life. Because after all, this isn't an art blog—it's a life blog. And I'm thrilled you're here to share it with me.